Book Tok’s Next Boom: Literary Tourism

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BookTok Travel is Ready for Take-Off

EF Ultimate Break, which focuses on experiential travel for 18-35-year-olds, has launched a new series of trips inspired by BookTok faves. Citing their recent survey of Gen Z and Young Millennial travelers in which 40% reported they are in a book club and 62% expressed interest in visiting destinations related to books they’ve read, the company is now taking ACOTAR fans to the Swiss alps that inspired Sarah J. Maas’s Prythian, inviting Emily Henry fans aboard an Adriatic cruise à la People We Meet on Vacation, and guiding history-loving Percy Jackson readers around ancient ruins in Rome, Athens, and Cairo. The trips, which “focus on literary community building,” include book club discussions, themed experiences related to the source material, and visits to literary destinations.

This isn’t the first travel company to offer book-inspired tours—John Shors Travel has been taking readers on tours with their favorite authors for years now, and Common Ground hosts “pilgrimages” that encourage travelers “make meaning through secular texts, treating novels and other forms of non-religious media as sacred,” to name a few—it’s the first one I’ve seen that caters specifically to younger adult readers’ interests and budgets. It’s a smart move, especially at a moment when 60% of Gen Z adults spend at least four hours a day on social media and nearly half wish TikTok hadn’t been invented. Nothing will make you want to throw your phone into the sea more than an immersive experience out in the world with people to whom you feel genuinely connected. If BookTok can be a vehicle for that, let’s call it a win.

What Are the Books That Shaped You?

NPR wants to know: what are the books you read in high school that shaped who you are today? My list would include Fahrenheit 451, Dante’s Inferno, and The Things They Carried, which all taught me about how to read deeply and what books can do. I’ll be looking forward to seeing the full list of recommendations when NPR publishes it in a few weeks. What would be on your personal syllabus? Tell me in the comments!

The 2025 Booker Prize Longlist Has Been Announced

The Booker Prize, which has maybe the weirdest eligibility window of all the major book awards (October 1 to September 30), has announced the 2025 longlist. Among the 13 titles is Katie Kitamura’s Audition, my hands-down favorite of the year so far (Jeff and I talked about it at length on this episode of the Book Riot Podcast), and Flashlight by Susan Choi, whose work seems to remain as divisive as ever. This year’s judging panel is chaired by 1993 Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle, who is joined by novelists Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ (Stay With Me, A Spell of Good Things) and Kiley Reid (Such a Fun Age, Come and Get It), literary critic Chris Power, and Sarah Jessica Parker, whose literary fiction imprint still exists. The shortlist will be announced September 23, and the winner will be revealed at a ceremony on November 10.

Now, please join me in once again begging literary awards to please adjust their eligibility windows to be in line with the calendar year.

8 Books to Read For Transgender History Month

August is Transgender History Month, and Danika Ellis has rounded up 8 great books to get you started. I’ve really got to get my hands on So Many Stars.